Turkish police on alert over possible poison gas attack

AP ^ | 10 Sept 2002

[Turk2]

Turkish police on alert over possible poison gas attack

Tue Sep 10,12:57 PM ET

ANKARA, Turkey - Turkish police are on alert for the possibility that militants linked to al-Qaida may have smuggled poison gas into the country and could be planning attacks, officials said Tuesday.

Police have also heightened security around U.S., British and Israeli diplomatic missions, businesses and military bases ahead of the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the officials said.

Turkey, NATO ( news - web sites)'s sole Muslim member, has backed Washington's war on terrorism in Afghanistan ( news - web sites) and leads the international peacekeeping force in Kabul. Officials fear that Turkey could be a target for attacks by the al-Qaida network.

Deputy Police Chief Feyzullah Arslan sent a memorandum to all regional police departments warning of a possible "revenge attack" by al-Qaida militants to coincide with the Sept. 11 anniversary, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

"Terror organizations with religious motives have smuggled poison gas into the country," Anatolia quoted Arslan as saying in the warning sent Sept 6.

A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that police were on alert against a possible gas attack, but gave no further information. He also confirmed that security had been stepped up around diplomatic missions for the anniversary of the attacks.

A police official also confirmed the Anatolia report, but provided no further details.

Anatolia said 58 people suspected of links with al-Qaida have been detained in Turkey since Sept. 11.

Turkish security guard looks at artwork in an exhibition organized in memory of the Sept. 11 events, at the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, Tuesday Sept. 10, 2002. The exhibition will be opened to public on Wednesday, Sept. 11. (AP Photo/Osman Orsal)

[Turk2]

bttt

[Mo1]

These al-Qaida morons may think they are attacking US interest .. but they are gonna be piss off the rest of the world also

[cmsgop]

That Gas maybe from Iraq....

[austingirl]

But Scottie the traitor says Iraq doesn't have any WMD (sarcasm)

[Dog Gone]

I hope our Turkish friends stay safe tomorrow. On the other hand, an attack there would certainly galvanize public opinion to take action.

So, maybe I'm rooting for an unsuccessful attempt which is thwarted by Turkish sharpshooters.

[cmsgop]

I just e-mailed the Turkish Embassy to thank them for standing with us.

[hchutch]

Hmmm... al-Qaida attacks Turkey with a weapon of mass destruction.

The North Atlantic Treaty would kick in at that point, and that would make things interesting with Germany.

[Poohbah]

The North Atlantic Treaty area ends at the Turkish border with Iraq and Iran, sad to say. It's an artifact of the origins of the treaty and the advances in technology since 1949.

[Vic3O3]

Good idea! Can you post the link to the embassy?

[ecomcon]

Turkey makes sense. bin Laden hit us and said "this is how it is done, follow me, Muslim brothers, the great war has begun". Some of his greatest hatred will be directed at those brothers he percieves as traitors to Islam.

[Dog Gone]

Great idea.

[SpookBrat]

Thanks for posting this news. I hope nothing bad happens. I have many friends in Ankara. :(

[Aric2000]

My Freind who works here is from Ankara, I would be very sad if anything happened to my Arkadas' family, and very pissed off to boot.

I hope that Turkey is able to stop this if in fact it is in the stages of being planned and executed.

Turkey isn't quite as nice to their terrorists as we are, our terrorists get nice lodging in Cuba, in Turkey they see the business end of a weapon and that which comes from it.

[cmsgop]

You Bet!!!!

http://www.turkey.org/start.html

[Kozak]

Hmmm... al-Qaida attacks Turkey with a weapon of mass destruction.

The North Atlantic Treaty would kick in at that point, and that would make things interesting with Germany.

Based on your reasoning why would that be any different then what happened to US on 9/11?

[SpookBrat]

That's what I love about the Turks. They don't take crap from anyone and I'm very proud they are our allies.

God bless them. I wish I could type it in Turkish, but I don't have the code for my key board. LOL

Nice to see you!

[Ranger]

Here is the Ambassador's email address. Thanks for the great idea. I sent him an email of thanks as well.

ambassador@turkishembassy.org

Contrary to what many may think, American's remember their friends.

[a_Turk]

FEMA's Ohio Task Force -1 Disaster Response Unit was put on stand-by status this evening. I think they should stay that way indefinitely. If I were the enemy, I'd wait until everyone let their guard down, and then attack.

I think there most likely won't be an aniversary attack. I hope that lack of an attack won't lull folks into a false sense of security..

[Humidston]

May God bless our friends and allies!